Son of Stone and Sea
by Rising-Gods-45
Summary: The Fates presumed everything was planned perfectly. Yet there was one detail that wasn’t properly considered...they hadn’t factored in a certian Son of Medusa and Poseidon, and now even they didn’t know what was to come. With the fate of the world resting on his shoulders, will Perseus be able to rise to the challenge, or will he fail to save what matters most in the end?Perzoe
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - I can't seem to stay focused and motivated on only one story at a time, so I guess I'll just have to keep two or three running at once. This _isn't _taking the place of Son of the King of the Gods, it's just another story for me to work on. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!! As far as I know there's not many stories like this out there.**

**(Remember that as far as myths go, nothing after Athens cursing Medusa is true, so no Perseus beheading her or anything of the sort) **

I glanced up at the moon through the thick canopy of leaves above me, quick shallow breaths escaping my mouth as I tried desperately to stay quiet.

Everything was silent in the somewhat eerie forest, almost as if nature itself was holding its breath.The only sound I could hear was that of my blood pumping fursioisly through my veins.

Then, like a gunshot shattering the silent night, a snap of a twig echoed throughout the clearing I was in.

Pure instinct had me moving before the sound even registered in my mind. Following my sudden movement like a trigger, the woods suddenly burst with life.

Numerous creatures sprang from the darkness and pursued me with vigor, and despite my extraordinary speed and strength, I knew it was only a matter of time before they caught up to me.

There was a strong pull in my gut, leading me towards the ocean, but also towards... something else, and under normal circumstances I would have questioned it, but right now I didn't have a lot of choice.

My feelings of suspicion for the odd tug were confirmed when a strange scent filled the air, and it seemed the monsters chasing me recognized it, as they slowed down and trailed behind me.

I spun around and faced them, easily picking out the shapes of the hideous beasts through the leaves and branches of the forest.

They were completely still, growling and cursing but not daring to come any closer.

That's when I heard it, the sound of footsteps coming up the hill behind me.

I turned to run to them, but an invisible barrier pushed against me and kept me standing still.

"Someone get Chiron! There's a demigod out here!" I squinted my eyes in the direction of the voice, several meters down the hill, and saw a group of kids around the same age as my 12 year old self making their way quickly up the hill.

Confusion filled me at their words. Chiron? Demigod? As far as I knew none of the monsters behind me were children of the gods, and from what I had read Chiron was a legendary trainer of heroes, not someone who watched over children.

"Hey! Come here!" The voices of the kids walking up the hill became frantic as they saw all the monsters lurking in the shadows behind me.

I hadn't paid attention to it before, but one detail suddenly caused everything to click... their smell. I could smell the power in them, and while it wasn't strong, it was more than enough for me to realize what was happening... where I was.

Panic filled me as I glanced back at the monsters, where I would likely die, and then back at the demigods racing towards me, another choice which would surely lead to death.

Before I could decide what to pick, something within me seemed to pull me through the barrier. It was as if two aspects were struggling within me, and appearently the part keeping me from passing through the barrier lost.

I stumbled past the odd barrier and towards the demigods coming up the hill, towards my demise.

The children rushed forward to catch me, even though it was completely unnecessary. They probably assumed I was tired from being chased by the monsters, but all it really did was... invigorate me.

"Come with us," the one who caught me was obviously the 'leader' of the small group. He was much older than the others and myself, with sandy blonde hair and sky blue eyes. His perfect tan skin was marred only by the jagged scar which ran from over his eye down to his chin.

"My name's Luke Castellan, son of Hermes." He obviously noticed my surprise and chuckled in amusement, "Don't worry, we'll explain everything when we're in the Big House." I didn't fail to notice the way he paused slightly at the sight of my bright golden eyes, while no one else seemed to find them too odd.

Nothing about me was that out of place, at least not when my heritage was considered. I had tussled and messy black hair which hung down into my, admittedly strange, glowing gold eyes. My skin was a bronze tint from all my days in the sun, and although I wasn't overly muscular, I had a fairly large amount of speed and strength stored within me. The oddest part about my appearance was my sharp fanged canines, but I had learned long ago how to retract them to a normal size.

As we slowly made our way down the hill, I took the time to inspect the camp below us in the valley, something no normal mortal would be able to accomplish in the dead of night.

We were making our way towards a large blue house, which was a nice and welcoming thing to see first. Behind it was the rest of the camp, from a strawberry field, to a pavilion with a couple tables that had different symbols carved into the center. There was also a towering wall with what appeared to be lava flowing steadily down it.

All of this was placed carefully around a large ring of cabins, each one unique from all the others. In the center of the ring was a large bonfire, which I thought was slightly odd to be lit in the middle of the night, especially with no one tending to it, but I decided to drop it for the time being.

"So, kid," I stopped my silent observation of the camp and watched Luke as we climbed the porch of the Big House, as they called it, "what's your name."

Panic filled me as I realized I needed to come up with a last name, but I tried to remain calm on the outside as I scrambled my brain for an easy last name.

"Perseus... but you can call me Percy... Percy Jackson." It was the first thing that came to mind, but it seemed like Luke and the rest of them bought it.

"Well young Percy, I believe we have much to discuss... alone, preferably." All the kids scrambled out at the firm voice, which came from the room in front of me.

Inside was a man that had wispy brown hair, and a matching beard with speckles of gray amongst the sea of brown. His eyes held years of wisdom far beyond the age he appeared to be, but that wasn't what really caught my eye. What really captured my attention was the wheelchair he was resting in.

"Chiron, I presume." His eyes sparkled with interest as he slowly stood from his chair, rising higher and higher out of his seat until he was towering several feet above me.

"It seems you know who I am, but all I know about you is your name." He motioned over to a couch in the main room, which I sat on while he sank back down into his wheelchair and came over in front of me.

Several thoughts raced through my head, but one question kept popping up... would he accept me?

While he himself was, for all intensive purposes, a monster, that didn't mean he would just accept who I was.

I struggled for several minutes, all of which he spent quietly observing, until I finally came to a conclusion.

"My mother is Medusa," I noticed the shock immediately appear on his stoic face, but I pressed on before he could do anything.

"Something odd happened when Athens cursed her, and she's been in a sort of dormint pregenancy on her island for the past few centuries, but somewhat recently the Fates visited and told her it was time for her to give birth... to me." While his surprise had passed, it was clear he was hanging onto every one of my words with interest.

"She didn't tell me much more than that before she... before she passed," I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and forced myself to continue, "I read that Poseidon forced himself upon her according to the myths, but she made it a point for me to know that he loved her, and visited her often on the island."

I was staring at the ground with tears welling up in my eyes, but I could practically feel Chiron's eyes watching me... judging me.

"Tell me, Perseus, what you believe yourself to be." I looked up into his eyes and saw nothing but compassion and care, something I had only ever seen before in the eyes of my mother.

"Exactly what I am, Chiron, a monster. I have no illusions about that, but don't mistake my title as how I view myself. I know that I am just as much Poseidon's son as Medusa's, so I don't know _exactly _what I am, but that hardly matters. What matters is that I'm here, and I tend to make the most of my life." Chiron smiled brightly before wheeling himself back into his office, motioning for me to follow.

The inside was nothing fancy, just a typical office like the ones in the mortal world.

He dug around in a compartment hidden beneath the bottom of the desk for a while before giving a exclamation of triumph.

When he came up, he was holding an odd black leather bracelet in his hands, with glowing green letters spelling out 'Anaklusmos' stitched into it.

"Riptide." Although I spoke nothing louder than a whisper, Chiron obviously noticed it.

"Yes, a gift from your father. He gave it to me long ago, and while there have been several candidates for it, his words always came back to me. 'He'll be special, and I trust there will be no doubt when you see him that he's the one.' That's you, my boy. I've never felt the pull of Fate so strong as I do right now around you. Except it's almost as if it's trying to reach you..." he trailed off towards the end and seemed to study me before shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"Chiron I have a question," he motioned for me to continue, so I did, "will they accept me here? Won't they fear me for my powers? I'm not going to hold back and restrain myself simply for the comfort of your campers." He nodded in understanding, but I feared he didn't really understand what I was saying.

"My powers might... they might frighten the campers." I clenched my fists together and watched in familiar fascination as they slowly turned to stone, when they did, the odd bracelet began to glow and infuse itself within my skin, slowly causing both of my stone fists to morph into razor sharp bronze blades.

"I don't understand why I can do this, and the bronze part is new, but it appears it's the only power from my mother I've inherited, that and certain traits of a monster such as enhanced senses, strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes. I've also noticed some powers from Poseidon, but they aren't developing as quickly as the ones from my mother did. It took several years after my mother's passing before I was even strong enough in my powers to make it off the island."

I watched Chiron nervously as he stared at my odd stone hands. It was several moments before he spoke, but what he said surprised me.

"I can't guarantee they'll accept you without question, but I can guarantee that no matter what I will stand by your side and support you."

I knew my future would be hard, and I knew that getting accepted into camp was just the beginning, but it felt good to know I had someone like Chiron by my side, even if neither of us truly knew how hard our lives were about to get.

**A/N - Let me know what you think!! I know it's outlandish and even contradicts some myths, but this is Fan_fiction_, a place where anything can happen. **

**I'd say that I'll probably alternate between updating this and updated Son of the King of the Gods, so expect a chapter for that up within the next week hopefully. **

**Please review, I want to know what y'all thought of the story and also tell me if there's stuff I need to explain better!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - I was planning on writing a new chapter for my other story (which you should totally go check out ;) ), but this had some amazing feedback and I've had a few people PM me giving me tips and pointers on the story. Thank you so much guys!! Keep the reviews and PM's coming. I'm probably going to get this to 3 chapters like the other story and then I'll alternate in updating them.**

Everything changed the moment I stepped into camp. No longer was I having to run from monsters every day, I wasn't having to worry that every step I took was being watched. I wasn't alone anymore.

Not that it mattered at the moment, no one in camp besides the few that were on patrol knew me, and even they didn't _know _me.

Chiron had kept me in the Big House for the night so he could do some 'big reveal' at breakfast. The feeling that came with this revelation was one I hadn't felt in a long time... I was nervous.

A million different thoughts were racing through my head as I made my way down the creaky old wooden stairs that led to the living room. I carefully approached Chiron's office, took a few calming breaths, and then hesitantly knocked.

It took only a few moments for him to answer, already fully dressed, or half dressed depending on how you think about it. He was standing tall in centuar form and looked ready to take on the new day, unlike myself.

"Good morning Perseus, I hope you slept well." I nodded in confirmation, even though I had barely slept an hour the night before.

"Yep, I had to make sure I looked my best for the introduction today." Chiron flashed me a smile and brushed swiftly past me, making his way over to the door of the Big House.

I felt almost claustrophobic in the plenty large room, it was as if the walls were closing in around me, like they were suffocating me.

It was odd in hindsight that I was so terrified, but it made sense at the time. I had never known anything besides running for my life and living alone, and then I found all these demigods, and after talking to Chiron it even appeared that some would accept me. So yeah, I was a little nervous about going to meet my potential new friends who were known for killing monsters, which I technically am.

"Breakfast just started a couple minutes ago, so most of the cabins should be arriving about now." Chiron stopped and smirked lightly, "well most of them will be, the Apollo cabin is probably already there and the Hermes cabin is still likely getting ready." He laughed heartily while I chuckled nervously beside him. It was nice to learn about the cabins and their tendencies, but my mind was a little preoccupied.

We exited the Big House and started to make our way down the hill, and as the feelings of nausea began to set in I knew I needed to find some way to distract myself.

"So, Chiron," he glanced at me in acknowledgment, but kept tracking steadily down the hill, "as far as I know, mom... I mean Medusa, was never beheaded, but all the myths say something about her giving birth to Pegusas and Chrysaor through decapitation." Chiron smiled softly and shook his head.

"It's a long story we don't have time for, but let's just say Pegasus was a... failed attempt for Poseidon to gain Hestia's love, and the gods planted that little myth about Medusa to protect Poseidon's pride." I was slightly angry at the disrespect my mother was shown, but she _was _a monster, and I would treat any other monster in the same way.

"And Chrysaor?" Chiron's features immediately went from amused to disgusted at the mention of my half-brothers name.

"A disgusting slime ball who was born around the same time as Pegasus. Poseidon decided he couldn't have a demigod son of his so vile walking around, but he was, and still is, much to loyal to kill one of his children, so he spread word among the mortals that Chrysaor came out of Medusa with Pegasus. It was oddly convenient, but you need not worry; as for as I know you don't have any full blooded siblings." I only had a few seconds to mull over the new information before we reached the Pavilion where everyone was eating.

One group of kids, who I assumed were most likely the Hermes cabin if what Chiron said was right, were still slowly walking past a giant bronze brazier about the size of the bathtub and dumping a portion of their food in it.

As soon as we stepped foot inside the pavilion all eyes were immediately drawn tome. A couple of the people seemed to know about me and quite a few looked towards Luke as if asking a silent question. I quickly made a mental note not to share any secrets with a child of Hermes.

I looked around and studied the Dining Pivilion carefully. It was supported by Greek Pillars, and it had no walls or curtains which provided a clear view of the nearby sea.

All the tables now had white cloths with Purple trim on them, which weren't on their last night when I arrived, and in the middle of each cloth was a symbol stitched intricately into it. One table had a gray owl, an empty one had a silver moon, and as my eyes were pulled almost against my will to a vacant table in the center, I saw a bright green trident embroidered boldly in the middle.

People seemed to notice where I was gazing as a quick murmur went through the crowd, but it seemed we had reached the head table, because Chiron stopped in front of it and slammed his front left hoof against the marble floor, causing an echoing sound that quieted all the campers.

"Last night a new camper arrived, as many of you possibly already know," another slight murmur spread through the group, but it ended just as quickly as it began, "for the first time in many, many centuries, there is a unique breed standing in our camp." The tension was palpable as all the anxious demigods sat closer to the edge of their seats.

"The new camper is Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Lord of the seas... and Medusa." For nearly a second everyone was stunned silent, but then a mini war broke out among the campers.

I heard numerous insults hurled at me in both Greek and English, but I also felt insults hurled at the people insulting me, which made me feel slightly better.

Everything was once again silenced as all eyes turned to me, or more specifically, above me. I turned my eyes up towards the roof and caught a glimpse of a glowing green trident floating above my head, symbolizing my father acknowledging me personally for the first time in my life. Chiron went to speak, but a man sitting at the table we were at spoke first.

"I don't care what you think, as long as it remains unvoiced, but Lord Poseidon has shown that Perseus is his own... and surely you children aren't foolish enough to challenge the word of a god." I glanced over the somewhat chubby man thoughtfully. It was clear he was more than a demigod, and if the strong scent of wine was anything to go by he was most likely Dionysus, but that's where it got confusing. Chiron had told me about Dionysus and his punishment last night, and he also told me about how much apathy Dionysus always showed.

"Just as I thought," he said when everyone quietly sat down, "now carry on with your little meals, wouldn't want one of you brats passing out and having a god though a hissy fit." Thunder boomed over head, but Dionysus waved it off lazily. Then he directed his gaze to me.

When his eyes met mine, everything else became background noise. Images of war, darkness, death, basically insanity put into physical form flashed before my very eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity they finally stopped. It left me hunched over and gasping for breath.

"What the hell was that? You nearly drove me insane!" My words appeared to have no effect on him as he lazily reclined back into his chair.

"Key word being _nearly_. As the god of insanity I'm pretty sure I'd know when to stop... unless your doubting my control over my domain?" I shook my head slowly, careful not to move too quickly with the pain still lingering in my head.

"Not at all Lord Dionysus, I guess some people just get a little testy when someone fucks with their head." We locked gazes once again, this time without any unwanted intrusions in my mind. Dionysus eyes began to glow purple and for a second I feared I'd crossed the line and would be killed, but just when it seemed his eyes were about to burst; he began howling with laughter.

"_Finally_, a kid with a spine. It's probably your monster side coming out honestly, either that or your rebellious sea nature," I could practically see his eyes suddenly light up with glee, almost as if he were crazy... "oh how interesting this place is about to become!"

-LineBreak-

After all the excitement at breakfast, Chiron thought it would be best if I got my schedule the next day and just took the rest of the day off to wander the camp and get settled into my cabin.

I'd like to say I went off and took on as many monsters as I could in the woods, but unfortunately I wasn't feeling up for any more adventure that day.

I spent the majority of the day just relaxing at the bottom of the ocean until I eventually made my way back up to my cabin, which was conveniently the closest one to the beach.

The cabin wasn't anything special compared to some of the other ones, just a small log cabin that looked like something you would expect to find by a lake. I quickly jogged up to the door, not really in the mood to talk to anybody. It seemed luck was on my side, because I made it to the door without seeing a single being.

When I stepped into the cabin, the first thing I noticed was the small black backpack and note placed carefully on my bed.

Inside was a pair of underwear and socks, and then a white shirt with bold black letters spelling out 'Camp Half-Blood', which only took my dyslexic brain a few seconds to decipher thanks to the large, bold letters.

Along with that was a pair of khaki colored joggers and black running shoes. Nothing too fancy, but more than anything I'd had while on the run.

I slipped on the overlay baggy clothes and shoes, and within a second they had shrunk down to a size that fit perfectly. The clothes seemed to emit a cold breeze which was perfect for cooling me down inside the slightly warm cabin.

After relaxing on the bed in my new clothes for a minute, I decided to open up the letter that came with them.

It was just a plain white envelope, and inside was a normal white sheet of paper, but instead of English writing it was Greek.

My confusion quickly faded when my mind began to decipher the letter much quicker than it would have in English.

_"Perseus, _

_I know I've been absent from your life, but you must understand that even just what I'm doing now could be considered breaking the laws to Zeus. _

_I've provided a set of clothes enchanted to behave like armor, always stay clean, and grow as you do. They'll also change into any color pattern you choose them to be. They should serve you well seeing as most of my children do not like being confined to the camp and its boundaries. _

_I wish I could say more, but as I mentioned before, I'm already testing Zeus' patience. _

_With love, Poseidon."_

Even though it wasn't much, the thought behind it made me estatic, not only at what he had done, but at the future.

After everything that had happened the past day, I could finally say with confidence I had found a family I could trust.

Would they accept me at first? Likely not, but I felt that a number of them would, and that eventually they all might.

For the first time in my life I was beginning to find a family.

**A/N - Hopefully updates won't be coming along as slow as this one, but if they do then they do, I'm writing as much as I can. **

**Remember to review!!**

**Sorry if it's rushed at the end, I'm tired but I really wanted to get this up tonight. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, I got sucked into the Altered Destiny series by Anaklusmos14. I highly recommend going to read them as their some of the best Perzos stories I've read.**

** I've also noticed a lot of words just kinda disappeared when I post a new chapter but I go back to change it and they're still there in the original document so I'm sorry about that **

The first few months at camp were easily the best of my life, at least since I had gone out on my own. Most of the older and more experienced campers were the quickest to accept me. Whether it started out of fear for my father, or genuine kindness I would never know, but what mattered now is that they accepted me.

I mostly stayed with Luke, who was the head of the Hermes cabin, and Annabeth, who was the head of the Athena cabin, for the first few days. When I started to notice Annabeth's infatuation with him, despite the fact that he was 16 and she was 13, I also noticed that Luke returned those feelings and their unspoken affection made it hard to be around them sometimes.

After that I became fast friends with almost all the other cabin leaders. Surprisingly most of them were around my age, and when I asked Chiron why he just stared blankly at the wall for quite some time before saying nothing more than, "the gods failed to see the rapidly approaching threat, and it cost most of the elder campers their life."

I asked Luke about it, since he seemed to be the only one left over 13, but he just got the same blank look in his eyes while slowly rubbing the scar on his face before answering the exact same way Chiron did. Anyone else that I questioned told me that all they knew was that it was some quest, and all they had heard about it was the same cryptic response from Chiron and Luke.

It was frustrating and confusing, but I'd learned to deal with it and just try my best to help out the young cabin leaders whenever I could. Most of them warmed up to my attempts immediately, while others were... less than friendly in response to my offers.

There was Katie Gardner, who's the head of the Demeter cabin, and one of the most kind girls I'd ever met. She was thirteen, and the only one older than me besides Annabeth. All the other cabin leaders besides Luke were the same age as I was, give or take a few months, and all the cabin leaders were the oldest in their cabin. Katie was also the most powerful daughter of Demeter born in quite some time. She was more capable of controlling and growing plants at the age of thirteen than most children of Demeter are if they somehow make it to their twenties.

Then there's Will Solace, the head of the Apollo cabin. He seemed to constantly ooze this sort of happiness that just made everyone around him feel at ease. It seemed he, just like Katie and every other cabin leader, was remarkably talented in the power department. He was one of the few children of Apollo blessed with the gift to actually heal somebody with powers and not just with an extensive knowledge of medicine. It wasn't helpful for any major injuries, yet, but a bruise or headache could be taken care of with a simple orange glow of his hands.

**(This is where the change is for those of you re reading the chapter!!!!! Sorry about the inconvenience) **

Charles Beckendorf lead the Hephaestus cabin. His power, in my opinion, was one of the coolest. He could summon and control fire at will. An ability which was supposedly banned from being passed on from Hephaestus after the last fire user burned down a city in the 1800's. Charles was easily the most serious and hardened member of camp. Appearently a full blooded sister of his had died during the odd quest and after that he shut himself off from everyone... or almost everyone at least.

Silena Beauregard was the leader of the Aphrodite cabin and the only one able to worm their way through Charles tough exterior. She was an admittedly fierce warrior that put an end to the stereotypical Aphrodite girl that cared more about her skill with makeup than a blade. Not to mention her charm speaking skills were so powerful that Chiron made a rule that no charmspeaking could be used unless for practice purposes.

**(This is where the changes end!! Again, I'm sorry)**

Castle and Pollux were twins of Dionysus and quite the powerful duo. Separate they could force a monster to the brink of insanity, but together they could easily break the minds of a number of monsters at a single time. While they didn't exactly ignore the other cabin leaders, they preferred to be a lone and didn't socialize much with the rest of us.

Finally there was Clarisse La Rue, the leader of the Ares cabin. She had been at camp for as long as any other camper could remember, and her experience with a spear reflected that. I had advanced tremendously in the past few months, but I was just barely beginning to match her skill level, and the only one who was better than her was Luke, but he, according to Chiron, was "the best swordsman to walk of the earth in centuries." Now if powers were thrown into the mix, than I could beat Clarisse fairly easily, but Luke not so much. She took my offers to help as an insult to her ability to lead her own cabin, but I felt like she'd warmed up to me at least a little bit already.

Like I said, the first few months were great, but that's when shit hit the fan.

"Perseus are you listening?" I snapped out of my trailing thoughts and focused back in on Chiron, who was nervously pacing his office in centaur form.

"I don't get it Chiron," he paused his pacing and stared at me sympathetically, "how does Zeus think I even stole his bolt?"

It didn't make any sense. All of camp half-blood was taken up to Olympus for a field trip of sorts, and it seemed during that time someone had snagged Zeus' Master Bolt. And for some reason Zeus automatically knew without a doubt it was me, but I'm sure that had anything to due with my monster-son-of-his-rival-brother heritage.

"He thinks your father convinced you to do it during the tour so that he could take over the throne." I growled lowly and the deep rumble that escaped my throat shocked Chiron almost as much as myself.

"I'm sorry Chiron, but I need some air. Being part monster isn't always the easiest thing to handle." Chiron nodded with that same sympathetic look in his eyes that made me want to rip someone in half with my bare hands.

I stifled another angry rumble from escaping my mouth and hurriedly shuffled out of the room. It wasn't his fault he felt that way, and I tried to force myself to understand that, but it seemed that no matter how strong a became, or how independent I was Chiron always looked at me with that same sort of sympathetic shine in his eyes, and I knew it was more than just my parentage, but that only made me angrier.

"Woah there kid, what's got you so worked up." I spun around and faced up with Luke, feeling some of my anger fade only to be replaced by a sort of apprehension. Something was off about him, but I couldn't place my finger on it. He didn't seem to be acting any differently so I just brushed it off.

"Nothing, it's just... nothing." Luke looked at me skeptically but didn't press the matter any further.

"Well I sure hope so, because Lady Artemis and her hunters are coming and trust me, you want to be on your absolute best behavior and attitude for them." I could feel my eyes widen in shock, as this was news to me. Luke didn't seem to notice and just continued speaking.

"It's rare for them to visit more than once every ten years, but I guess Zeus has ordered Lady Artemis to track down his bolt, which means her hunters have to stay here for a while." I had heard about the hunters of Artemis, and how I shouldn't even look their way in fear of angering one of them, but the way Luke spoke just further reflected that. He didn't mention Zeus as anything more than a man, but he said Artemis name as if she were the highest royalty.

"Yea I'd rather be able to piss without pain for the rest of my life." Luke snorted in amusement before his eyes focused on something behind me, causing a small smile to spread across his face.

"I'm gonna go meet up with my cabin, they're already on their way to the base of Half-Blood hill to greet Lady Artemis, make sure you're there very soon." I watched him jog up to the left side of his marching cabin, which just so happened to be a spot right next to a certain daughter of Athena.

I shook my head in amusement and jogged towards my cabin, it was still somewhat early in the morning so when Chiron had called me to his office this morning to tell me about Zeus's theory I had scrambled to find clothes and in my hurry had forgotten my shoes.

It only took me a minute to find them, but if the loud hunting horn sounding at the top of the hill was anything to go by, it seemed it took a minute too long.

I sprinted full speed towards the hill, cursing my father for building his cabin so far away the whole time. By the time I made it to the hill, everyone was already lined up perfectly with the exception for one spot between a smirking Clarisse and a solemn Katie.

The cabins lined up with the highest number cabins in the middle, and the lower ones stemming out, so naturally as a three I was in the middle, and Katie's cabin was to my right since it was a four, and Clarisse's to my left as a five.

I had hoped my entrance was unnoticed, but with my luck over half the camp and all the hunters were well aware of what happened.

"Who are you _boy_?" Two people stood in front of the hunters. One, obviously the goddess Artemis, stood regally with her frightening silver eyes locked stoically onto me. The one to the left, the one who spoke to me, stood just a proudly as Artemis. She looked no different from any of the other huntresses besides a sparkling silver tiara woven through her hair.

She had coppery skin similar to mine except just a few shapes darker, obviously someone who wasn't of American descent, and along with that she had a slight accent, but it was so faint I couldn't distinguish what it was. Her long black hair was pulled back in a pony tail by her tiara, and while the hunters outfits were plenty modest, it did little to hide the body of someone as athletic and fit as she was.

My throat suddenly seemed to close up as I realized I was unintentionally checking out a huntress, and I prayed to every god I could think of besides Artemis that she didn't notice.

"Perseus Jackson, milady, Son of Poseidon and..." I trailed off, not sure if it was the best idea to reveal my full heritage. Artemis quirked an eyebrow at me, and stared deep into my eyes with a morbid sort of curiosity, making me feel like nothing more than an animal pelt on her wall.

"Continue boy, I believe my lieutenant asked you a question, and you would do well to answer fully and honestly." The way Artemis spoke didn't reek of hatred, it was simply like I was an insect barely worthy of her time, which in a way I guess I was compared to a goddess. A feeling of dread quickly seeped into me as I realized not only had I looked at a huntress, but it was Artemis fucking _lieutenant_.

"Uhm, well it's a funny story actually, you probably know it quite well. Maybe not _that _funny... ok it's not funny at all, but you _do _probably know it." Frustration flashed through the lieutenant's eyes, and I could almost feel the nervousness rolling off of the campers.

"I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon and Medusa, my mother was cursed by Athena and had been in a dormant sort of pregnancy up until a few years ago." Artemis eyes sparkled with a little bit of interest, as if I just went from an insect to a stray dog that wandered into her yard.

"That's when the Fates visited and started up, so to say, her pregnancy again. She didn't last but a couple years after she gave birth to me," I struggled to swallow as I remembered the final few moments I had with her, "the curse became too much for her to bare once I stopped absorbing some of it and it hit her full force. It turns out Athena's curse was meant to be a slow and painful death, but when cast upon both of us it behaved unpredictably."

The lieutenant's eyes, along with all the hunters, filled with disgust as they looked at me. Artemis however, seemed more intrigued than disgusted.

"A very interesting story indeed, boy." Although she seemed interested by me, the condescending tone made it obvious that did nothing to change her opinion on me, I was still just a male.

Faster than I could blink, the lieutenant had her bow drawn and an arrow notched right at my chest. I felt a paralyzing sort of fear fill me as all the campers shuffled anxiously around me, not sure whether they would be killed for interfering.

I held a hand up to stop them, only for her arrow to fly through my palm before I could even flinch. All the campers surged forward, and the lieutenant pulled back another arrow along with her hunters.

"**Stay back!**" The campers immediately followed my instructions and stopped moving, instead standing with their hands on their weapons ready to draw them at a moments notice.

I looked up into the harsh volcanic black eyes of the lieutenant and felt a feeling of fear creep into my heart.

"Permission to kill, milady?" My stomach crawled up into my throat as Artemis tilted her head to the side, but gave no response.

Surely I wouldn't die like this.

**A/N: That's if for this chapter ;) Tell me how you think I portrayed Artemis in the reviews. I wanted to try to make it slightly unique from the overwhelming despise she has for males in most fanfics. **

**I know the hunters don't come til much later in canon, but I wanted to go ahead and start on the Perzos relationship while also going through some of the vital parts of the story. **

**Remember to Favorite, Follow, and tell me what you thought about this chapter in the reviews!**


	4. IMPORTANT AN

**PLEASE GO BACK AND READ THE LAST CHAPTER AGAIN!!! **

**I made a huge mistake putting in Piper and Leo as cabin leaders, and it's going to mess up the plot for later on if I don't fix it!**

**Skip down to the big bold letters just after the chapter starts and you'll see the change. It's not very long but it's SUPER important!**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I was hoping someone would point out pretty much everything you did Kuman, just so I could give my ominous response saying that I knew how it appeared, and that you would understand why I did it later ;)**

**As for Percy being a 'wimp' around Artemis, well I guess he could've been a little less fearful but I mean Dionysus was nothing but an old drunk who let people call him Mr. D in Percy's eyes, and he pissed him off which you'll see occur in this chapter also with a different god. Artemis, however, is a warrior goddes known for turning men into little animals in a blink of an eye, and even though I did take a different approach to her views on guys she's still a man-hating goddess with a group of girls that put everyone in camp to shame. **

**Anyways I just wanted to let you guys know that I have a plan for why Percy was accepted so quickly, and while I could (and probably should) have spent more time on him getting to know everyone I just wanted to skip ahead to the good parts of the story, but hopefully it won't be too big of a plot hole in the story. Thanks for the feedback Kuman! I appreciate people helping me find plot holes and the characters acting odd (compared to how they normally act in my story). **

**On to the story-**

_"Permission to kill, milady?" My stomach crawled up into my throat as Artemis tilted her head to the side, but gave no response. _

_Surely I wouldn't die like this._

The camp as a whole froze at the words. Even Chiron stood rooted to the spot, completely unsure of how to handle the current situation.

All eyes drifted wearily to Artemis, who finally seemed to snap out of her daze. She stared at me for a moment longer before giving a small nod of her head.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, pure instinct and adrenaline pushing through all other thoughts as everything around me was seemingly put into a higher resolution.

Even from here I could see the slight twitch in the lieutenant's fingers, and before my mind even fully comprehended what that meant, I was throwing my healthy hand up in front of my chest while simultaneously changing it into 'Anaklusmos form', or 'Riptide form' as I liked to call the celestial bronze structure my bracelet allowed my arms to take.

Despite my quick reaction time, it was still just barely fast enough to stop the arrow from hitting me square in the heart.

Everybody, including Artemis herself, seemed frozen to the spot while they tried to register what had just occurred. I was the first to snap out of it, instantly climbing to my feet and glaring harshly at the lieutenant. I ripped the arrow out of my hand and flung it back at her, ignoring the throbbing pain the action incurred.

"What the _hades _was that for?" My untimely words seemed to snap the lieutenant out of her shock, and almost immediately she had another arrow notched and ready to fire. Before I could prepare to defend myself, the least likely person intervened.

"Calm down, my huntress." All eyes, besides the lieutenant's, snapped over to Artemis in shock. She simply glared harshly at her huntress when she didn't move a muscle. "That wasn't a request, Zoë."

Zoë, as the lieutenant was appearently called, reluctantly lowered her bow to the ground, but kept the arrow there ready to fire at a moments notice.

Artemis, seemingly appeased by the action, directed her gaze towards me. I wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline pumping through my veins or anger, but at the moment I seemed to lose all self control.

"What the hell was that?" Artemis' silver eyes flashed with anger, but if I had to guess I would say my golden orbs were glowing much harsher than hers were.

"I'll allow the disrespect to slide just this once, simply because I realize why you are upset, but that nod was not meant to be interrupted as an answer to my huntress." I refused the urge to roll my eyes and instead just smiled and attempted to reel in some of my anger.

"My apologies, Lady Artemis," She nodded her head dismissively and began to turn away before I continued speaking, "but in the future I would recommend making your nods more clear... wouldn't want the wrong interpretation to get someone killed."

We both locked eyes, silver clashing with gold until I took a small step back into line with my fellow campers, my anger slowly waning and allowing me to see I was pushing it just a bit too far.

I knew better than to openly disrespect a goddess, especially one as important as Artemis, but I wasn't going to let her walk over me like a doormat after _her _hunter tried to kill me.

Artemis, in response, turned away from me and towards Chiron, who was standing dumbstruck in front of the campers.

"Please excuse my quick leave, Chiron, but Zeus requires I track his bolt immediately and I'm already behind schedule," she sent a small glance in my direction but didn't say anything to me.

I knew she assumed I'd stolen the bolt just like her father did, and if it weren't for the risk of invoking my father's wrath I'm sure I would already be dead.

"Zoë, please take the hunters to my cabin and prepare them for the game tonight. I believe this should be our 56th win in a row." Artemis disappeared in a flash, and the hunters smirked victoriously while the campers seemed to let out a low groan of annoyance.

So far I'd only seen Zoë fire an arrow, but I was fairly certain that despite their seemingly young appearances that the hunters would prove an extremely difficult opponent even with our vastly superior numbers.

Without saying another word to anyone, the hunters took off towards the cabins and the campers soon made their way to the amphitheater for lunch. When I tried to follow after them, a strong hand grabbed my arms and jerked me backwards.

I spun around defensively only to come face to... uh chest with an extremely angry centaur, who was extending a piece of ambrosia for me to eat for my hand.

"Just what was the supposed to be, Perseus?" It wasn't often that Chiron was this angry. Stoic? Harsh? All the time, but anger was one of the many emotions he had mastered throughout his centuries of life.

I grabbed the small chunk of ambrosia and popped it in my mouth, resisting a moan at the wonderful taste of the godly food.

"Well you see, that huntress, Zoë, tried to kill me," I looked up at him with an innocent smile on my face, but it did nothing to deter his angry glare.

"Fine," I relented, "I _might _have gotten a little angry." Chiron opened his mouth likely to scold me, but I quickly continued before he could, "It's not really my fault though. I mean in the beginning I was just protecting myself but then that girl tried to shoot me again."

Chiron kept up his harsh stare until I finally backed down; bowing my head in defeat before turning to go towards the amphitheater where everyone was gathered.

"You might be my pride and joy, Perseus, but I swear one day you'll be the death of me." I stopped walking and smiled brightly but didn't turn around. I couldn't tell if Chiron meant for me to hear that, but either way it had just made an admittedly crappy day somewhat enjoyable.

-Don't know how to do an actual line break so this is the substitute-

When I got to the amphitheater everybody had already taken their round of sacrificing their food to the gods, even the hunters. That left me awkwardly walking by myself to the brazier and then even more awkwardly making my way back to the empty table for Poseidon's kids.

"Campers," all eyes turned to the thundering voice of Chiron, who was standing tall and proud at the table elevated on the small stage towards the back of the amphitheater, "as many of you know, Lord Zeus' Master Bolt has been stolen."

A murmur spread through the crowd, and quite a few suspicious glances were sent my way. Despite the respect and friendship I'd gained from the cabin leaders, some, or rather most, of the other campers weren't so quick to accept me.

The 'older' campers all looked to Luke to make decisions, because in their mind he was the perfect cabin leader that they all wanted to be like. That meant that whenever he started hanging out with me and treating me like a friend, all the others followed his lead and trusted me. It wasn't exactly how I wanted to befriend them, but I'd take it for now.

"Lord Zeus has decided to deploy not only Artemis herself, but also some campers to retrieve the symbol of power." Another small excitement spread through the camp at the prospect of a quest. The first one since whatever ominous quest occurred that got half the campers killed.

"The gods themselves have chosen Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon to lead this quest," yet again, the campers leaned over next to each and whispered, as if that was supposed to keep me from hearing them.

At the moment, however, I was much too distracted to pay attention to their obviously less than kind words. A million different thoughts were racing through my head, all centered around why Zeus would pick _me _to find his bolt. The most likely solution I could come up with is that he assumed that being called out in front of everybody for a quest would make me admit that I had stolen it, which I hadn't.

"You will need to consult the Oracle after breakfast and receive a quest," His eyes, along with everyone else's, locked onto me and stayed there, and for the rest of breakfast I swear to the gods I could feel everyone staring at me and at that moment I had never wanted my mother's power of turning people to stone more.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of having not only people I considered friends staring coldly at me, but also a group of man hating girls glaring at me, it was time for me to go with Chiron to consult the Oracle.

Chiron and I made our way towards the Big House in silence. It was slightly odd but I feared trying to start small talk would only make things more awkward.

Instead I thought back the the harsh stares thrown my way during breakfast and suppressed a growl. It wasn't my fault I was chosen for the quest, and in all honesty I didn't even want to lead it.

Leading a quest was considered among the highest honors at camp, so I could see why everyone was upset that I, a half monster, received such an important one. That didn't do much to appease my anger, especially since most of the campers had only shown friendship to me. I wouldn't deny that I heard some less than kind words about me when people thought I was out of earshot, but this just showed how they truly felt.

I wasn't their friend, I wasn't a member of camp to them, I was nothing more than a monster being protected by the gods. The only reason they acted kindly to me was because their cabin leaders genuinely did like me. I'm sure things would be different if the elder campers were here to smooth things over, but nobody wants to take commands from someone almost the same age as them like many of the cabin leaders and their cabin mates were.

I snapped out of my musings as we arrived at the back of the Big House, where the ladder into the attic stood before us. I knew that whatever quest I revived would be cryptic and have several, possibly dark, meanings, and that stirred up a sense of nervous fear that made me want to just go out and risking finding the bolt on my own.

Regardless of my worries, I swallowed down my nervousness and began to trek my way up the ladder into the attic. Each step creaked and groaned, causing me to stop a few times and harden my hands into stone, preparing to thrust them into the wall to save me an unpleasant trip down the ladder the fast way.

I finally arrived at the top, after several close calls with the rotting wooden ladder, and flipped up the hatch to the attic. After carefully pulling myself up past all the rusted nails and such sticking out in random places, the entirety of the attic was visible.

I won't go into great detail about it because in all honesty it wasn't anything special. Dusty relics here, dustier relics there, nothing too odd besides the mummy residing in the back of the room.

It just sat there, eyes blank and empty, skin rotted away to the point she was barely anything besides bone and mangy clothes. I approached her and took a deep, ragged breath.

"How do I find Zeus' bolt?" Blank eyes stared past me, not a sign of life flickering through her body. I bent down and waved my hands in front of her face, but received no response.

"Huh, guess someone broke yo-" I stopped abruptly as green mist flew out of her slightly ajar mouth, twisting and turning and forming many different shapes before solidifying in the form of a girl standing before me. That's when an odd hissing sound filled my head like a snake breathing in my mind.

_"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned, _

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned, _

_In order to succeed you can't go alone, _

_Hunters and Campers combined shall find a way home, _

_The Stone of Poseidon's final stand, _

_Shall determine whose life is saved in the end." _

**(I know some words don't perfectly rhyme, but they sound close enough that it doesn't really matter)**

I stared blankly at the now completely normal and still mummy before turning and making my way back down the stairs.

This time the creaky steps didn't bother me since my thoughts were focused on slightly more important matters.

For the next few minutes I allowed my body to run on auto pilot as I told Chiron the prophecy and fallowed him obediently to the Big House, where we went into a back room I hadn't been in before.

There wasn't anything in it besides a ping pong table with thirteen seats situated evenly around it. Six on one side, six on the other, and then a slightly larger one at the head of the table.

I stepped into the room and froze as I realized what this was.

"A mini Olympian Council?" Chiron smiled and motioned me over to a metal seat just like all the other ones except with a trident image imprinted onto the back of the seat.

All of the other ones had a symbol except for the one at the head of the table, but it was special in its own way. Instead of being metal like the other ones, it was covered with cushions and had armrests with cup holders in them. Chiron traces my gaze and answered my unasked question.

"An honorary seat for Dionysus, but he never comes to these things and instead uses our meetings as a 'break time'." I snorted in amusement and sunk down into my seat, waiting for the other campers to arrive.

Chiron excused himself to bring all the other cabin leaders, and not but a few seconds later a certain huntress of Artemis strolled confidentiality into the room.

"Good morning, lieutenant. How's your day been?" I leaned back lazily in my seat and smirked slightly at her. She growled lowly and sat down in her seat, perfect posture and hands folded neatly in front of her. The way she carried herself along with her regal facial features made her look like a Persian princess, and considering how old some of the members of the hunt were it wasn't that odd of an idea.

Seeing she wasn't in a talking mood, as I knew she would be, I leaned forward and propped my elbows up on the table, ignoring her harsh glare and keeping up the faux smile.

"Good, you say?" I asked as if she had answered, "well that's great. My days been pretty good too. Almost got shot for no reason, found out I'm supposed to go find my paranoid uncle's symbol of power, and then had this crazy run in with a mummy that told me I'd get someone killed. Oh and did I mention the part where I almost got killed?"

Zoë stood up abruptly and jumped across the table from where she sat straight across from me, but as the blade which seemingly appeared out of no where neared my face, I jerked my arms up in front of me and summoned Riptide; willing both arms into thick shield like plates to deflect her blades. It was barely fast enough and I didn't have time to stabilize myself, causing me to crash backwards onto the ground from the impact of her knife.

"Speak to me one more time _boy_, and I'll kill you so fast you won't have time to change your form." I met her glare with one of my own before hopping up to my feet. She was around 14 in appearance while I was just nearing 13, so she stood a few inches taller than me. I refused to let this deter me and just glared harsher as she smirked arrogantly at the slight height difference.

"Sit down _little boy_, wouldn't want you to get hurt playing with big boy toys." Before I could make a retort, the door to the meeting room flew open and a handful of campers strolled in with Chiron leading them.

"Perseus, Zoë, care to explain what's happening?" I slowly allowed my hands to shift from bronze shields, to bronze hands, and then finally back to normal.

"Nope," I popped the 'p' at the end while picking my chair up and sitting down in it, "just saying good morning to my favorite huntress, Zoë." Zoë glared at me and slowly went back around the table to sit down in the Artemis seat, never taking her angry eyes off of me. Chiron glanced between the both of us before letting out a sigh and going over to the head of the table that didn't have the chair.

"Perseus, would you mind reciting the prophecy for us?" I shot a look at all the anxious faces gathered in the room and shrugged my shoulders.

"Sure," everyone leaned in closer, even Zoë appeared to be interested, so I obliged to their wishes and spit the prophecy back out word for word, despite how badly I wanted to leave off the end.

When I was finished all the leaders looked around at each other nervously, all except Luke.

"I'd like to volunteer." All eyes bounced from Luke to Chiron, who was sadly shaking his head.

"I'm sorry Luke, but this prophecy calls for someone to die and the camp can't handle losing the last demigod that's not a preteen anymore." Luke and Chiron locked eyes, seemingly wrestling back and forth between Luke sat down with an annoyed huff.

I could understand why he wanted to go, but even I agreed with Chiron that he should stay. Without him here camp would be a completely different place, and losing him wasn't a risk I would be willing to take. After a moments silence, Zoë spoke up.

"I say we take two hunters and one camper." I snorted at Zoë's suggestion, causing her to glare at me yet again.

"Sorry princess, but no way in Hades am I traveling with _two_ hunters," she stood up and opened her mouth to retort, but I didn't give her the chance to speak, "I say we take Zoë, myself, and a girl camper. That way I don't have to deal with two hunters and Zoë doesn't have to deal with two males." Zoë sat back down while nodding her head grudgingly. Chiron nodded his head in agreement while scanning his eyes through the people present, before finally landing on Annabeth.

"Annabeth, I think you'd be a fine addition to the quest. You also don't have any problems with Perseus or the hunters so you'll make a fine mediator." Annabeth nodded her head enthusiastically before sliding a small sheet of paper to the center of the ping pong table for everyone to see. On it were the words of the prophecy.

"Ok so the first two lines are pretty simple and don't have any double meanings really. Some god probably helped whatever demigod stole Zeus' bolt do it, which is the god who turned. Then we're going to find Zeus' bolt and return it." Everyone nodded in agreement, causing Annabeth to smile brightly.

"I think the next two lines are just saying we need hunters and Campers combined to succeed." Again, just nods of agreement, but before she could continue I came to a horrible realization, causing me to release a loud groan.

"Campers and _hunters_, not just one hunter." Zoë smiled savagely at me, revealing glowing white teeth that couldn't possibly be thousands of years old.

"Is two campers and two hunters good enough for you, boy?" I ground my teeth together to keep from retorting and ultimately starting a fight.

"Yea sure, so we got me, you, Annabeth, and then you pick another huntress." After I finished speaking, Zoë looked thoughtful for a moment before coming to a decision.

"I'll take Phoebe, she's my best tracker and could be useful for this type of quest." We all looked around the room at each other, nobody really wanting to address the last two lines of the prophecy.

After a few moments of unbearable silence, I finally decided someone had to say something.

"Well I'm going to go to the arena, get in a quick workout before we leave tomorrow morning, you know?" Nobody argued with me... no one said a word. Either they would bring up the lines while I was gone, or they wouldn't be discussed. Either way I didn't care. No one wanted to have to make a choice that would get someone killed, and I knew they would just feel sorry for me, which was something I wasn't in the mood for at the moment.

But as I left the room, everybody stared at me with those damned sympathetic eyes, and all the way to the arena I felt their pitying stares on the back of my neck.

**A/N: Got this one out quick! **

**Here you can start to see kind of why the campers are accepting him as they do, but this is still only the beginning of that part of the story, so if you're not satisfied yet just wait. **

**Please Review and tell me what you thought of Percy and Zoë. I like the stories where they have a sort of hateful relationship to start with, but that's just me. The whole Zoë catches him staring at her when they first meet and a slight blush appears on her face is bull crap in my opinion. She'd have an arrow between his eyes before they even left her face and got down to her body if he was looking at her like that. **

**Anyways, that's just my opinion and how I decided to write the story. If you don't like it then go read the stories that instantly have them acting all mushy with each other, trust me when I tell you there's plenty of them out there. **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: So not a lot of feed back on the last chapter, which is fine. I really just want constructive criticism, and people pointing out plot flaws like the wrong cabin leaders I did for some dumb reason (I left the last Apollo cabin the same because Lee didn't really have a lot of depth to his character in canon) **

**Anyways here's the next chapter, and please tell me if you think I'm portraying a character incorrectly or there's a plot hole **

Barely had I made it to the arena when I felt a familiar presence enter behind me.

"I'm not in the mood to talk, Luke." The words were shaky leaving my mouth, clearly exposing my wavering emotions despite my wishes not to.

"Then let's not talk. Cut the crap and really spar me, I know you don't like using that strength hidden inside of you, the strength every monster has. You think everyone is going to hate you because of it, but they won't. You'll be a god among demigods. You'll be unstoppable." His words invoked a shiver down my spine. I took a deep breath and attempted to wipe the shock from my face before turning around to face him.

We stood less than 10 feet apart now, and now that I could fully see him, I understood why he was there. The anger in his eyes was shining just as bright as mine likely were, but we weren't angry at each other. I was angry at the campers, at myself, at the gods. Luke was angry about his omission from the quest, and likely just the stress that's been put on him since the last quest.

"I don't know what you're talking abou-" Before I could finish, he lunged at me faster than I'd ever seen anything move before. I didn't even have a chance to think, but that's when my instincts kicked in.

The world slowed down until it reached the all-too-familiar crawl that occurred every time I tapped into my powers from my mother. The only difference was that now Luke was just moving at his normal speed, which didn't make any sense.

My body went into autopilot mode and rolled out of the way of his strike, coming up into a crouched stance with my fists already converted into their signature dual blade appearance.

Everything started to move normal again, and Luke stood there smirking like he hadn't even moved at all.

"You think those other cabin leaders are the only ones with 'special abilities'?" He started stalking in a circle around me, while I simply stood in a ready position.

I narrowed my eyes and focused on his legs, the world seemingly going from a fuzzy view to high definition. I could see every tendon flexing and tensing in his leg as he rocked back just slightly onto his back leg, putting pressure there to dash forward.

I was ready this time, and as soon as he started to move so did I. We met in a flurry of strikes, and although he looked surprised, it still appeared as if he was barely trying, and instead was just lazily throwing strikes at me that he knew wouldn't actually hit.

His lack of concern about our spar ignited a spark inside me, and suddenly I was moving faster than he was, forcing him to defend himself from my onslaught of quick and powerful strikes.

Faster than I could blink, Luke was on the other side of the arena, panting slightly but smiling broadly.

"Impressive, I didn't think you would actually use your powers." His smirk threatened to split his face, but I was far too tired to worry about that at the moment.

Instead, I slumped to the floor with exhaustion, using the last of my energy to bring a ball of water out of the cooler next to me and splash it on my head.

The water helped a little bit, but I still felt like every muscle in my body was on fire.

"See, the gods knew something was coming... something big. And so they gifted their favorite demigods with powers that would make normal children of the big three jealous of a Demeter child." There was a slight edginess in his voice as he spoke, and a new spark started to form in his eyes, replacing the anger previously there.

It was a spark I had never seen before in anyone besides the very monsters that hunted me... a flicker of madness. I slowly pulled myself up into a sitting position and leaned back against the table that held several coolers filled with water.

Luke started to make his way over to me, moving around carelessly like we hadn't just fought at the speed of the gods.

"But nobody knows what's _really _coming. Not the gods, not the monsters, even the threat that's rising right now is oblivious to what's coming." Luke was now right in front of me, his words more chilling than anything I'd heard.

He flicked his sword so fast all I saw was a glint of movement, and then water was gushing from a slash in the side of a cooler and pouring over my head.

"I saw things on that quest," Luke's eyes were shining wildly now, and even more obvious than the hints of madness flashing through his eyes was the anxiousness in his voice, "The things that I saw... that _we _saw... well let's just say I'm pretty sure that even the gods' sights were covered from what happened in that horrid place." He slammed his sword down into the dirt and reached his hand down for me to grab. I gripped it tightly and used it to help myself onto my feet, which wasn't too difficult after the surprise shower Luke gave me.

"I'm not trying to scare you, squirt, I'm just telling you that quests come from the Fates, not the gods, so the end result might not favor them and there's nothing _anyone _could've done about it." I watched curiously as he seemed to calm down instantly, bringing up even more questions and doubts swirling through my head. I opened my mouth to ask just a few of my many questions, but a horn sounded signaling dinner.

My stomache growled loudly at the prospect of much needed food. The meeting had gone through lunch and then with the spar food had somehow slipped my mind. I grabbed Luke's sword from the ground and handed it to him hilt first.

"Let's go eat, and if I make it back from the quest alive then we can talk about this." I could tell just by hearing myself speak that it was obvious I didn't want to end the discussion, but my body was quite adamant on getting food.

Luke laughed loudly at my words and started walking out of the arena, with me trailing behind slightly.

"Trust me kid, there's no way in Hades the Fates are letting you die... not yet." I slowed to a stop, but Luke kept walking, not even turning around to glance at me.

I tried to catch up to him, but when I exited the arena and looked around for him he was already out of sight.

"Now _that's _a bad ass power, and I thought _I _was fast..." I snorted in amusement and began to slowly jog towards the amphitheater, all the while trying to ignore the throbbing in my muscles from the strain of moving at such high speeds.

\- Line Break - 

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. Dinner was much quieter than normal with the thick layers of tension and apprehension filling the area.

After dinner was over we had a short match of capture the flag, which the hunters won with ease. It's not that tough of a match when your opponent's best strategist, Annabeth, and a child of the big three, myself, are forced to sit out so they don't get injured for the upcoming quest.

Luckily Zoë agreed, and along with the fact that she too was forced to sit out the match, she convinced Chiron to schedule another one upon our return.

When Capture the Flag was over everyone went off to bed, feelings of nervousness at their peak. Zoë, Annabeth, Phoebe, and myself had talked during the capture the flag match and decided to meet at the top of Half-Blood hill around 6 AM.

It wasn't _too _early, but it gave us plenty of time to get started on our quest, which didn't exactly give an address to start us off.

That's about when my night _did _become eventful.

I had just finished talking to Luke about the quest, mostly receiving some tips and a cool pair of winged shoes, and was on my way back to my cabin.

After the long day I was eagerly awaiting the sight of my bed and the comfy sleep it promised, what I wasn't expecting to see was a hobo fisherman perched back on my bed, eyes closed and hat pulled down to mostly cover them. I stepped closer to him, only to have him open his mouth and speak.

"I guess I could have made this place a little more comfy, but I honestly wasn't expecting any more demigod children, which I guess still hasn't happened," the man's deep voice was smooth as water trickling from his lips, but tumbled with a undertone of power that couldn't be ignored. It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was.

"Poseidon?" We both locked eyes, curious gold clashing with equally curious green.

"That's odd, aren't your mother's eyes..." he paused and stared at me for a few more moments before smiling brightly. "It's great to see you Perseus, I've been dying to meet you ever since I noticed someone swimming faster than the speed of sound and creating quite a ruckos when mortal sensors picked it up on their radar." He finished with a wink while I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.

"Yea, I may have been just a little overwhelmed by the feeling of finally getting to swim." Poseidon nodded enthusiastically at my words and leaned against his trident, which I was just now noticing.

"As any child of mine should be." We fell into a sort of comfortable silence, but like any other person with ADHD, I can only handle silence for so long.

"So, I know this may be bold of me to presume, but I'm guessing this isn't just a friendly visit?" Poseidon's smile became slightly forced as he patted the bed next to him for me to sit down on, which I did.

"I don't know how much you remember of your mother's... passing," It wasn't much, to be honest. I had tried to suppress those memories and so far had been fairly successful, "but it wasn't an ordinary death for a monster. I've had my doubts about it, and I've been always keeping a small portion of my essence focused on finding her energy signature back on earth... even after it was nearly impossible for her to reform... 2 years ago."

My breath caught in my throat, walls closing in and the world spinning around me. Poseidon kept talking but I couldn't make out his words, I could barely hear him. I didn't know what to do, what to say. I had always assumed she would reform, even if I had no idea how long it would take. I had never considered... I hadn't even thought about...

"W-How?" Poseidon grimaced and sat on the bed next to me, rubbing comforting circles on my back even thought I'm fairly certain a boom of thunder outside was warning him to stop.

"It was the curse. I believe the mystery behind your birth is something even the Fates have trouble understanding, but somehow you steadily absorbed just enough to keep your mother alive, but not too much that it would kill you." His words were admittedly soothing, something only a father could manage in such a time like this. I clenched my fists together and watched as they went through the familiar process of shifting to stone, then to bronze, and then through both of their forms as blades and shields.

"I see you've already started scratching the surface of your powers." I glanced up at Poseidon in confusion and saw him smiling, albeit still slightly forced after our recent discussion. "What? You didn't think you spent all that time absorbing the curse just to get some stone fists, did you?" Even more thunder boomed outside, this time rattling my cabin and causing everything inside to shake slightly.

"And that's my que to leave." Poseidon stood up from the bed with a sigh, planting one last firm grip on my shoulder as he locked eyes with me.

"Good luck on your quest, my boy." He began to disappear into a thin watery mist, and his words echoed through the room, "You are, and always will be, a true child of the sea, even if not everyone will see it that way."

I stared at the spot Poseidon was in for a minute or two and then flopped back onto my bed.

"Love you too, dad."

**A/N: BOOM! Finally got this done. You guys have no idea how much I struggled with trying to fit in what I wanted to, while not fitting in _too _much that I would spoil something. Anyways, it's done now, and while I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten (and taken pretty much all the criticism into account so far) I need more! **

**Even if you've made it this far and decided you hate the story and aren't ever reading again, please tell me _why_. I'm not going to write my stories based purely on what other people want me to change about it. They are, after all, _my _stories, and I'm not going to change anything major for you. **

**PLEASE REVIEW, FAVORITE, AND FOLLOW!!**


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